You are late. And grumpy about it. A week past due. You adjust yourself again. Holding your very large middle. You grunt and groan. It was now just uncomfortable. Too big. Too kicky. The little one was stubborn. Kicking up a storm about being in there but refusing to come out. It must be a little boy. The little guy taking after his father in knowing how to pester you.

You don't know the sex of your baby. The toads don't exactly got an ultrasound machine. But the surprise was the one thing keeping you going. The thrill of not knowing! Jiraiya was with you on that one. But his opinion differed from yours. You are sure it's a boy. It just has to be! A cute little boy that'll grow too look just like his father. Wild white hair and a mischievous crooked smile. You've seen a picture of Jiraiya as a kid. It was so easy to imagine a little boy that'll be his spitting image. Jiraiya was on the opposite side. He was leaning towards a girl. A little girl that just has to take after you. The world needs more beautiful things like you. He'd be much happier passing on your legacy than his. But... a good natured son sounded good too. To be completely honest, Jiraiya was worrying more now that he thought more about his childhood. It's a good think his hair is naturally white, if his baby takes after him then he would have gone white from stress. How the hell did he make it to adulthood? Honestly! He's half sure he should have died a handful of times from all the dumb shit he's done. Hopefully his little one will be easy to handle.

"Ah fuck." You curse as the baby kicked you in the ribs. Fuck. That shit.

Jiraiya frowns. You got a case of the crazies. And you're uncomfortable. He hates seeing you in any sort of pain. He watches you from the other room. The door cracked so he can check on you. Lady Shima and Lord Fukasaku have been really great. The two old toads happy to take you and Jiraiya in. They went on and on about how proud they were of him.

"A wife and a baby on the way!" Shima laughed. She lightly hit him with the back of a wooden spoon in a joking way. "Oh how I worried about you boy! I'm so happy you have a family!"

He blushed and smiled. He's excited about it too. He looked over to you, resting on the bundle of pillows that he may have pulled out frantically as soon as he got you here. He wants you to be comfortable. But it's not really happening. The fun experience was now becoming sour as you were in almost constant agony.

"What can I do? How can I help her?" Jiraiya looked over at the sagely toad. Surly an older female like her will know what to do.

"That's a hard one, my boy." Shima tapped her chin thoughtfully. "There's not much to do. Any medicine I can think of has side effects to pregnancy." She laughs quietly to herself. "Unless you want to induce labor through the traditional methods!"

Jiraiya choked on his tea. He can feel his face heat up. D-Did Shima just imply he should fuck you? He covered his mouth as he had a coughing fit. She began to laugh at him. Almost in tears from his flustered reaction. You cry out in pain from the other room. He wipes his eyes. The coughing fit brought tears to his eyes from how hard it was. Shima patted his leg in an affectionate gesture. She motioned towards the bedroom.

"Maybe you should, my boy." She gestured to the door. "I'll go out. Pa could use some help gathering things for dinner. We'll be just outside in case it happens."

Never before has Jiraiya been so embarrassed. He didn't really like having Shima talking about sex. It's like having a grandmother tenderly caress his leg and ask him if he had any candy. The door shut behind the old toad. After a moment of looking at the door, then the glancing to you. He sighed. Fuck it. Then tossed his teacup away as he stumbled across the room.

"Uh..." You tilt your head as Jiraiya crashes into the room. "Hey honey, what's up?"

He's on his hands and knees. Staring at you with wide eyes and a heavy blush. He regains his composure and grins. "Hey baby~! How you doing?"

"I'm in false labor." You groan. You cringe as another contraction attacked your body. It's not enough to be considered real labor. It's too far apart.

"How far apart are they?"

You scoff. "I'm not having the baby, Jiraiya." The baby is just fucking with you. It's like a joke. A cruel joke from your baby.

"Can I help? I hate seeing my woman in pain."

"What could you do?" You raise a brow.

He crawled towards you. He kissed you. He strokes your belly and moves on to go lower. It's nice to have him so affectionate. Lately, Jiraiya has been avoiding you. Not that you can blame him. You've snapped at him several times over nothing. Then your hormones would flip like a coin toss and you'd start crying because he left. Feels bad. You don't like being irrational. But he was understanding. Keeping his distance when you needed it and approaching to be very affectionate just in the nick of time. It was usually at night you wanted his attention. To have your husband curl up beside you and fall asleep with a hand on you kept you content. Usually your belly or hip. Something easy to grab in the dark.

"What are you doing?" You grab his hand as it went lower still.

"Hush, my love. Let me do my thing."

"Not sure if I want to. I know what these hands can do."

"And you love everything they do to you!"

You laugh. There's that sense of humour again. Still so, you hold his hand. His fingers are massaging little circles into your skin. It felt good and those talented fingers are only a few inches away from their goal.

"I do love what they do. But..." you sigh and look away. "I'm not exactly sexy at the moment."

"What? How could you say that?" Jiraiya scoffed at the idea. "You're gorgeous!"

"Honey please! I'm bigger than whale and like everything his swollen. I'm in pain and like!" You poke your very large middle. "Look at this thing!"

"I like this thing!" He puts both hands on your pregnant belly. He took a seat between your legs and affectionately rubbed the area. "It's got our kid in it! And soon this will all be over." He put a kiss on it before continuing. "This is the worst part. The waiting. The wondering." He smiling wistfully as he looks over your body. There's certainly other things he misses as well. He can't wait for you to get your figure back. Your boobs have already gotten bigger, which he was a big fan of. You however, bopped him on the forehead every time he made a "got milk" joke.

"I want it to be over. I just want to have this kid pop out already!" You complain with a frown.

That mischievous grin grew on Jiraiya's face. His hands ran over your sides and to your back. He leaned in close and kissed you. "Let me help baby! I know a few tricks to get jr out!"

"Jr?" You question with a laugh. "I'm gonna have to say no to that one!"

"I'm not narcissistic enough to name my kid after me!" He snickered as well. Jiraiya jr had a terribly ring to it.

That you knew. The baby names on the table were all carefully selected. They meant something without referencing anybody. Early on, Jiraiya agreed with you that the baby shouldn't be named after anyone. There was enough pressure on the kid already. Being the child of a Sannin had some expectations. Throwing on a legacy from a dead hero will only worsen that. Your baby deserves to live a life free of such tethers. Jiraiya would never pressure his son or daughter to grow as quickly as he did. But the world would. Should you even bring your child to Konoha? The thought of it felt scary. What would they say to them? How would they treat them?

You are brought out of your thoughts by the familiar foreplay of your husband. He stroked your sides and back. His lips kissed your jaw and neck. He moaned your name as his hand rounded over your tummy and moved back down.

"Ah!..." Your voice trailed off.

Jiraiya had reached under the folds of your kimono and got right to it. His fingers playing with you. You grab fistfuls of his shirt and keep him close to you. It's been so long since he's touched you. It felt amazing! It's never felt this good before. Just as you got close, moaning his name and pulling on the collar of his shirt, an unfamiliar feeling flooded within you.

"Whoa!" Jiraiya moved his hand back and inspected. That's not... oh! "I think your water broke."

"What?!" You struggle to look over your bump. You can't really do it. But there's a cold and wet feeling all over your thighs. And it totally felt like you peed without any control. Which is gross but like, what can you do?

"Your water broke! You're gonna go into labor!" The surprise wore off and was replaced with excitement. Jiraiya is grinning happily and he stares at your middle in wonder. "It's happening! Baby is coming! I'll go get Shima!" He's a mix of calm and freaking out. A calm exterior but on the inside he's absolutely going to throw up at some point he's so nervous. It's like he's overdosing on caffeine. He suddenly had the energy to run around the mountain.

You grab Jiraiya before he could leave. He looks at you in confusion. He's gotta go! You grit your teeth as a contraction squeezes your body's nerves. You began to cry and nuzzle his arm. "Don't go! I don't think I can do this!"

The reality is crashing down. You're going to be a mother. You have to take care of another living being. Well.. you already kinda take care of your husband. But he knows how to feed himself!... Sometimes. Most times. He can also change and go to bed without your help... most times too. He can at least talk and tell you what's wrong... when he feels like it. God damn it Jiraiya you are a baby sometimes. A real baby can't do these things. You gotta figure this out on your own.

Then again, you got your big baby to help you out. Jiraiya was doing what he could. But he's still a big goof. He got slapped by a new mother at one point for accidentally implying he was going to take her baby. Long story, bad wording, high jinks ensued. You had to comfort him and his bright red cheek for a few hours. In the end, you got his back and he's got yours. He's happy to start all the baby stuff. Comforting his crying child at four am. Holding them and cooing at them as they stare in wonder at the giant man holding them. The sound of baby laughs is like the greatest thing in the world and he can't wait to make his baby laugh.

Jiraiya hesitates. He kneels down beside you and began to pet your hair. He began to comfort you. "Where is this coming from? You were always so confident about this." He smiles warmly and a small bemused laugh leaves him. "I was the one freaking out, remember?"

You nod. A few months ago, Jiraiya kept waking up at odd hours of the night. He was worried about being a father. He spared you the details, but he was having reoccurring nightmares. You stayed up with him and spoke gently about all the fun things he gets to do with his son or daughter. And that he was going to make an amazing father. He finally said something that revealed his anxieties.

"Is it selfish to have a baby... when I already walked away from one?" He whispered as that haunted look arose in his eyes. He turned to you with a plead for comfort.

You reached over and played with his hair. He likes the gentle attention. His tense expression relaxing as you twirl your fingers around locks of his hair. "I don't know. I don't think so. Naruto... he's... he'll be alright. I think it was meant to be." You force his head up so he has to look at you. "And you aren't walking out on this one. Things will all turn out okay."

He crawled closer to you and wrapped his arms around you. He nuzzled his head against your bump and felt instantly better. He's been mostly okay after that conversation. Just generally happier and his smile wasn't so rare to see anymore. The next day he came back with a little green onesie with a frog on it and began to gush over how small babies are and how he just had to buy this when he saw it in a shop window.

Now that onesie was laid out nearby, waiting to be put on. Can anything that small be so scary? Surly not. How cute will it be to see a little baby with sprigs of cloud white hair and black eyes in a light green onesie that had little cartoon frog heads on it? Adorable! Jiraiya kissed your forehead.

"Come on, babe! I'll only be gone for a second." Jiraiya spoke to you quietly. You whimpered during another contraction. He kissed you through it. Hushing you in a loving voice and wiping away any tears you shed. "I'll get Shima and you know what's gonna happen?"

"We're going to have a baby?" You asked, almost unsure if that was the right answer.

He nods. "We're having a baby."

For some reason, the statement calmed you. It's all going to be okay. You got a solid support system helping you. A great husband and a family of toads all there for you. You let him go. Holding his hand for as long as possible as he walks away. Your fingers slipping along his as he leaves the room.

"Hot damn! I knew you could do it boy!" Shima's excited cry resounded a moment later. "Come on Pa we got some work to do!"

Two sage toads came bounding into your room with supplies. Essentials like water and towels. Jiraiya tailed them with red cheeks and embarrassment clear on his face. He sat back down beside you and gripped your hand. He stroked your hair away from your face and smiled. He kissed your head and held your gaze.

"Are you ready?" He asked.

"As I'll ever be." You squeeze his hand.

You braced for another wave of pain. It's going to be a long afternoon. With the biggest payoff. The anticipation was building to the point of maddening! The next stage of life was just ahead. Only one question is bugging you. Boy or girl? Well... you'll find out soon.